Proposition 209: California Civil Rights Initiative

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Proposition 209 – California Civil Rights Initiative Overview Proposition 209, also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative, was passed in 1996 by 54% of majority California voters through a ballot measure. The purpose of this initiative is intended to prohibit the state, schools, and government institutions from discriminating or giving preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, or ethnicity. The text of this proposition states “SEC. 31. (a) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” What the proposition mean is, for example,…show more content…
The Supreme Court decided in 2000, however, that it was constitutional through a 6-1 ruling. Universities are one of the institutions affected by prop 209 and required to implement the new policy. The provisions apply to UC system and prohibit them to consider race, religion, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in selection, promotion, or any other employment practice, unless such action must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal programs. Companies also suffer from the implementation of prop 209. Claudia Ramsey is an owner of a firm that receives government contracts of which fulfills $1 million a year worth of work. Ramsey is concerned that the passing of this law could close the windows of opportunity for her to win new contracts since California would no longer be given a quota of state business for women- and minority-owned firms. Ramsey feels at a disadvantage because she is a woman. "In construction, if you're a woman, they look at you in a less favorable light than [they do] a male contractor. You need a chance to go through that door and show what you can do. Proposition 209 is closing that door" (Ramsey). The implementation would in turn, do the same for hundreds of other companies that do business with the state of…show more content…
The benefits are that it allows the people to recall government officials, and modify state constitutions and policies through initiatives and referendums. The drawbacks is that when voters are either ill-informed or selfishly voting in only wanting to benefit themselves, they make poor decisions and the results can be more damaging than helpful. Another reason for those poor decisions is that the wording itself in the summary text may confuse or manipulate voters. Many times, the direct democracy system has shown harm instead of good. Proposition 13 catered to homeowners and such but ended up hurting education and California’s overall fiscal health. The way it works out after implementation is that someone wins and someone pays the price. Direct democracy is supposed to be used as a tool to protect the rights of the people. In the end, I think most Californians would see the importance of having the ability to influence our policies and leaders and will decide that it is better to have direct
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